For 142 consecutive PGA tournaments, Tiger Woods played well enough to make the cut. His streak ended this past weekend when he missed the cut at the Byron Nelson Championship by one stroke, his first missed cut since the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 1998 (he withdrew, actually). The last tournament at which he missed the cut by playing poorly was the 1997 Canadian Open.

Where does Tiger's streak rank among the greatest individual streaks? Here's our top 10:

1. Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streakDiMaggio's streak was appreciated in its day, and it might be the most unbreakable record in baseball. In the 62 years since the Yankee Clipper set the mark, Pete Rose has come closest to equaling it ? and he was able to hit in "only" 44 straight, an NL record.

Joe D. was bummed that the Indians shut him down on July 17, 1941. "Did you know if I got a hit tonight I would have made $10,000?" he said. "The Heinz 57 people wanted to make some kind of deal." The next game, DiMaggio started another streak, getting at least one hit in another 16 straight.

2. Edwin Moses' 107 straight hurdles finals winsFor nine years, nine months and nine days, Moses proved, literally, unbeatable. The two-time Olympic champ won 107 straight finals in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles (also going 15-0 in qualifying races during that time), setting the world record of 47.02 seconds and gathering the 11 fastest times in the event.

"In 10 years, Moses faced hundreds of different competitors, but nobody beat him; some even quit the event out of frustration," wrote Juan Williams in The Washington Post. "Fashions changed, politics went conservative, the U.S. boycotted the Olympics in 1980 and participated in 1984. But none of it affected Edwin Moses, who just kept running away from the competition."

3. Lance Armstrong's six straight Tour de France winsLast summer, Armstrong surpassed Miguel Indurain's five straight from 1991 to 1995, and he goes for No. 7 this year.

4. Orel Hershiser's 59 consecutive scoreless inningsOn Aug. 30, 1988, the Dodgers faced the Expos at Stade Olympique. Hershiser was on the mound. In the bottom of the fifth, with the Dodgers up 4-0, the Expos scored two runs. It was the last time a team would score on Hershiser that season. He blanked the Expos for the final four innings of that game, upping his record to 18-8 and lowering his ERA to 2.84.

Hershiser had pitched 59 scoreless innings, breaking Don Drysdale's mark by 1/3 of an inning. At the end of the streak, his ERA was 2.26, more than half a run lower than it had been a month earlier.

In the first game of the NLCS, Hershiser blanked the Mets for another eight straight innings, finally surrendering a score in the ninth when Darryl Strawberry doubled home Gregg Jefferies.

On Opening Day, April 5, 1989, the Reds' Barry Larkin scored a run in the bottom of the first inning to end Hershiser's regular-season streak.

5. Cal Ripken's 2,632 consecutive games streakOn Sept. 20, 1998, Ripken did not play. His name had appeared in O's box scores 2,632 straight times until that date, breaking Lou Gehrig's previous record by 502 games.

6. Johnny Unitas' 47-game TD pass streakIt began in 1956 and ended in 1960. In a streak that spanned five seasons, Unitas threw a TD pass in every game ? 17 more games than the next-longest streak, 30, by Dan Marino. In the course of the streak, Unitas connected with Raymond Berry 38 times. He hit Lenny Moore in the end zone 27 times.

Unitas paid the streak no mind. "Records don't mean a thing to me," he said after his 40th straight TD pass game, against Green Bay. "Nothing is as important as winning & I imagine if I was record-hungry, the thing wouldn't have been extended this far. It makes no difference to me when it stops."

7. Rocky Marciano's 49-bout winning streakIn the spring of 1947, Marciano, fighting under an assumed name so he could remain an amateur, earned $35 by knocking out Lee Epperson. It was his first pro bout. In April 1956, nine years later, "The Brockton Blockbuster," 31, announced his retirement. The heavyweight champ since knocking out Jersey Joe Walcott in Philly on Sept. 23, 1952, Marciano got his final, 49th straight, win by knocking out Archie Moore in nine rounds.

He retired undefeated.

8. Cael Sanderson's 159 straight college wrestling winsSanderson, an Iowa State wrestler, finished his college career with a 159-0 record, having won four straight national titles, his last one in the 197-pound class after three titles at 184 pounds. No other college wrestler has gone undefeated, not even the great Dan Gable, who won 100 straight in the late 1960s and 1970. Sports Illustrated named Sanderson's feat the second-most impressive in college sports history, behind only the day Jesse Owens set four world records.

9. Wayne Gretzky's 51-game scoring streakThe Great One tallied either a goal or an assist in each of the Edmonton Oilers' first 51 games in the 1983-1984 season, a point-scoring streak that still stands. During the streak, which ended Jan. 28, 1984, Gretzky scored 61 goals and assisted on 92 others.

Gretzky had broken his own record, set in 1982-83, when he went 30 straight games with a goal or an assist.

10. Brett Favre's 205 consecutive startsPlaying a position where many don't make it through one season unscathed, Favre has started 205 consecutive games at quarterback for the Packers ? 224 including the playoffs.

For me the greatest sports streak is Brett Farve's 205 games started. I don't believe that record will ever get broken. When you think about how hard it is for most QB's to just get thru a season and how tough the game is - to me it's an unbelievable feat.

What's your favorite streak and why?

May 16th, 2005, 10:41 pm

conversion02

RIP Killer

Joined: January 26th, 2005, 9:34 pmPosts: 10955Location: Sycamore, IL

I've gotta say Cael, ONLY because I go to ISU and have seen him wrestle. The guy dominates and is the benchmark for college and amateur wrestling. 159-0 is something I don't think could ever happen again. I say Cael cuz I'm a homer.

Best athlete in the bunch is Lance, hands down IMO.

Record that'll never likely be broken: toss up between Ripken's and Favre's. Ripken's because it just takes SO long. Favre's because most QBs don't last that long or usually get seriously banged up.